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What is it that we feared did we fear that militarily Russia would take us over or China
did we fear that economically we would become a Pigmy and our people's standard of living
would go down or was it what Roosevelt once called an undifferentiated fear uh which I
would say is has something to do with the idea we're number one that's a personal viewpoint
what is it exactly that had all these people frightened to death it's a great question
and I've thought a lot about that so what would've happened if you know let's say Castro
the worse scenario had happened Castro's a Communist and then he exports Communism to
South American countries I suppose practically it would hurt us economically in terms of
trade uh I mean you see how it would have some affect on our influence around the globe
and it could hurt us financially uh so you know I do think that there is in some way
an argument to be made that it would've been bad for the United States had a huge part
of the world been under the domination of the Soviet Union and China uh but you know
people just kept referring to the American way of life is in jeopardy without really
specifying as you say what well what exactly what's going to happen are we going to have
Communists you know camping out in our back yards what does this mean you know I don't
really know the answer to why uh you know why that fear uh was so intense and I don't
and clearly now we can look back and see they uh that that was not justified but certainly
at the time there was this real belief that the Communists were coming in closer and closer
uh and were going to get us what we oppose fundamentally is the aggressive nature of
the Communist state it's unceasing effort to expand wherever it can grow bigger to take
over to supplant this deadly impulse toward aggression we oppose as a continual threat
to peace these are the contrasting points of view between the major antagonists in the
conflict which has become known over the last decade as the cold war This excerpt is brought
to you by the Massachusetts School of Law